Call for commission of inquiry into sale of Zambian mines

Zambian lawmakers have called for a commission of inquiry into the sale of the former Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM), following a select parliamentary committee’s report which revealed irregularities in the sale of the mines, Zambian news reports said on Monday. A recent parliamentary report was highly critical of the privatisation of the ZCCM, saying that the sale of the mines was not done in accordance with Zambian laws and that there was a lack of transparency in the whole privatisation process. Zambia Copper Investments, a unit of the South African Anglo American Corporation, International Finance Corporation of the World Bank, Swiss Glencore and Canadian First Quantum mine bought the major core assets of the ZCCM.